Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Deuteronomy chapter 5. This morning we looked at instructions to young mothers specifically. instructions to older women generally. Tonight we're going to review the fifth commandment.

I know I've preached on it many times. It's one that does bear repetition as it affects every one of us and it affects all areas of our lives. I want to begin reading in Deuteronomy chapter 5 at verse 1. And Moses called all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and you did not go up the mountain.

He said, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain, from the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added no more.

And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our father, we thank you for the written word of God.

We thank you for your law. and for your gospel, we thank you for your graciousness and mercy to us in revealing these truths to us, and showing us our own sin by that law, showing us our need for the Redeemer, and giving us that faith and repentance to close with Jesus Christ. We bless You and we praise You for these spiritual blessings that You have poured out upon us. And now, Lord God, as we look at this section of Your Word, we pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We pray that we would think properly and clearly concerning these things, that Father, as we are able in our homes, in our families, together, we would seek by Your grace and for Your glory, to have well-ordered families, to have those things that are consistent with the revelation of God Almighty in the Old and the New Testaments.

We ask that you would bless all the parents here, the grandparents, give grace to each and every one, and we do pray for our children, for our young people, first and foremost, that they would know the joy of being found in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would be believers of the gospel of Christ, that they would be washed in the blood of the Lamb, saved by grace through faith in Christ our Lord. Father, give them hearts of compliance toward their parents, give them a desire to bring glory to you in that family sphere, and may you just bless richly. Again, forgive us for our sins and for our transgressions, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, as we look at the Ten Commandments, we notice that there are two tables of the law. The first four commandments define our responsibility or our duty toward God. And then the last six commandments deal with our responsibility or our duty toward man. And it is intriguing that the fifth commandment is really the first commandment of the second table.

And I think there's a close connection between the fifth and then those that follow. And I would suggest that those who disregard the fifth, those who have no regard whatsoever for the honor of their parents, most likely will not be the most upright citizens in a society, and murder and adultery and thievery and lies and covetousness will ensue. Not every instance, not every time, but those who have a problem with authority, those who do not submit the way that God calls them to submit, are typically the kinds of people that have trouble in this world. The Lord God has instituted several authority structures, and I would submit that the fifth commandment does not only apply with reference to the family, but as well to the commonwealth or the civil society that we find ourselves in, also with reference to the church, The workplace and we'll sort of look at that as we move through this particular commandment tonight

Overview of the Sermon's Structure

in the first place I want to look at the statement of the command and look at the Explanation the scope of it and then thirdly the sanction related to the breaking of the command and then finally look at the promise Given there's a promise stated by God. It's expanded in the New Testament But notice in Deuteronomy 5 at verse 16 honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you." That is a promise appended to the statement or to the commandment. If you do this, then good things will happen. Again, it's not formulaic.

There's other things, other circumstances that may well be involved. But as a general rule, in God's moral universe, When we do what God calls us to do, more often than not, blessings ensue. And that's precisely what we find, again, this is repeated in the New Covenant or in the New Testament, in Ephesians chapter 6, to Gentile children, which highlights for us the continuity of the Ten Commandments. Gentile children in Ephesus are subject to the Ten Commandments.

But instead of living long in the land, they'll live long in the earth. And so there is that bit of expansion under the new covenant, but nevertheless, the same law appeals or applies rather to children in the new covenant as it did in the old.

The Explanation of the Command

But in the first place, let's look at the explanation of the command, the specific duty. Notice it says, honor your father and mother. And this word honor means to be ultimately heavy, weighty, burdensome, or honored. The connection between heaviness and honor ought to be obvious. treat our parents lightly.

Rather, we treat them with honor and with respect. We realize the gravity of their authority and their rule over us. And so these two concepts are very closely intermingled. Now, in terms of the connotation in this particular passage, it means to make honorable, to honor them, or to glorify them.

Honor Defined: Weight and Reverence

Turn to Leviticus chapter 19 to see this fleshed out in a little bit more detail, a passage that we'll have cause to refer to a couple of times this evening. But notice in Leviticus chapter 19 at verse 3, it says, every one of you shall notice, revere his mother and his father. And interestingly, mother comes first. Father and mother bear equal authority with reference to the rearing of their children.

It's not the case that mother is to be disregarded because she's not the head of the household. That is simply untrue and that is simply incorrect. The mother is to be revered along with the father as the authority structure over the parents. Now,

Covenant Context and Continuity

back to Deuteronomy chapter 5, there is a connection with God's covenant that we see in chapter 4 at verse 40. You can turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and see verse 40. It says, You shall therefore keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you. and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time." Essentially, what you have in the book of Deuteronomy are several addresses by Moses to the people of Israel. Remember that God had promised to give Israel tenure in the land of Canaan.

And then the people of Israel grumbled against God, they whined against God, so God wiped them out. For those of you reading, using the Robert Murray McShane calendar, you've seen that in your reading today. That instance where they grumbled and God sent those fiery serpents to bite a whole host of them. They were judged, they were punished, and that first generation did not enter into the land.

So here on the plains of Moab, it is the second generation. And so Moses takes this opportunity to prepare them to enter into the land. And he does so by a series of exhortations, and he repeats for them the law, the Decalogue, that which was given at Sinai in Exodus chapter 20. So this is the second generation.

These are the people that are entering into the land. And when we read here in Deuteronomy 440, we see the purpose of God with reference to life in the land for Israel. You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time." In other words, this is a recipe for life in the land. This is a recipe for life under God's covenantal order.

This is the way they were supposed to conduct themselves. They were supposed to be obedient. One commentator, Craigie, says, the close parallel between these words, the fifth commandment, and Deuteronomy 440, indicates that the basic issue involved in the commandment was the continuity of the covenant. He goes on to say, parents were responsible to teach their children concerning the covenant, and by so doing, both children and parents would prosper in the land and see the fulfillment of the covenant promise of God.

But to teach effectively, there must be a receptive audience. In other words, it's difficult to teach people that are not paying attention. It's difficult to teach people that aren't honoring the teacher. It's difficult to teach people that aren't respecting the teacher.

And so this is one of the purposes for the fifth commandment, is to lay upon these children the burden and the responsibility of taking seriously the law of God as it comes through parental authority. He goes on to say, if children did not honor their parents and were rebellious and self-centered, they would not be able to learn about the covenant relationship with God, which had been so central to the lives of their parents. And as a consequence of dishonoring their parents, they would not prosper in the promised land, for they would not know intimately the Lord of the covenant promise. And so this is instituted for that stability and so that the instruction concerning Yahweh could be passed down from generation to generation.

Christopher Wright says, just as the fourth commandment does not merely describe a cultic taboo day, but governed Israel's social and economic life as a whole society under God, So here the fifth commandment forms part of the structure and fabric of Israel's covenant relation with God and is not merely a recipe for happy families. There was a lot riding on the fifth commandment. Again, not just simply a recipe for a happy family, not just a recipe for well-adjusted children, but for possession and tenure in the land that Yahweh had covenanted to give to them. The Old Covenant was conditional.

The Old Covenant commanded. And if one didn't respond favorably or obediently, then there were sanctions attached to it. And in the case of Israel, that grand sanction was expulsion ultimately from the land because they didn't do these things. They didn't honor their parents.

They didn't revere mother and father. In fact, this is cited in the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 22 verses 7 and 15 as one of the causes, among many, of the reason why Israel went into exile. You see this emphasis on obedience to parents referenced in the New Testament at several instances in what are called vice lists. In Romans chapter 1, in 1 Timothy chapter 1, in 2 Timothy, where it describes sort of the last days, 2 Timothy chapter 3.

You see that disobedience to parents is mentioned in those particulars as well. It's not an innocuous thing. It is not a harmless thing. It is not a low-level item.

It is something absolutely crucial for any society of persons. So, with reference to the explanation of the command, we ought to observe the other references. Look at Exodus 21. Exodus chapter 21.

Just to flesh this commandment out and to see how it appears oftentimes in Scripture. excuse me, Exodus 21 15, he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Verse 17, and he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Again, I think that shocks moderns, it shocks our delicate sensitivities. We think, horror of horrors, how in the world could ever God ever command such a thing like this?

Well, I think there's a biblical or a rationale in terms of if children won't receive parental authority, if they will reject parental instruction, they're probably not going to do well with other forms of authority and with other types of instruction in society as a whole. Leviticus 19, verse 3, I've already referred to that. We can appeal to it once again. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father.

And then again in chapter 20, that verse 9 in the book of Leviticus, for everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him. Now, in the book of Proverbs, it is emphasized many, many times.

I just want to look at a few of the salient ones. Notice in Proverbs at 1520. Proverbs chapter 15 at verse 20, a wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother. Proverbs 17 and verse 25, a foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

Proverbs 19 and verse 13, a foolish son is the ruin of his father and the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping. Proverbs 19 verse 26, he who mistreats his father and chases away his mother is a son who causes shame and brings reproach. And then Proverbs 30 at verse 17. Proverbs 30 at verse 17, the eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles will eat it.

The Command Reiterated in the New Testament

Now, turn over to the New Testament. The New Testament amplifies, or rather reiterates, this commandment, again, in the context of a Gentile church. There are those out there that teach that the Ten Commandments are not abiding for the Gentile church. That's simply incorrect.

It's simply untrue, because the Apostle Paul tells us that the Ten Commandments are abiding to the Gentile Gentile and Jewish Church, the people of God, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, are subject to the Ten Commandments. Not nine of them, not eight of them, not seven of them, not the ones that we like, not the ones that we prefer, not only the ones that are repeated in the New Testament, but the entirety of the Ten Commandments. How do we know that? Because it reflects who God is.

There is a trans-covenantal utility to the Decalogue or to the Ten Commandments. That means wherever men are, whether Jew or Gentile, whatever age they live in, whether Old or New Covenant, they are subject to the abiding law of God. In total, all Ten Commandments, including the Fourth Commandment, even the Sabbath. But here specifically in Ephesians chapter 6 at verse 1, Paul says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Read verse 4 there, because I think the fifth commandment not only includes the responsibility of inferiors, but it also includes the responsibility of superiors. And I'm going to explain that in just a moment.

But then over at Colossians 3, which is very parallel to Ephesians 6, you see this reiterated once again. Colossians 3, verse 20, children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. When we look at these particular passages in the New Testament, the word obey means precisely what it says.

It means precisely what it says. Kids, you're supposed to obey your parents. Now, whenever we talk about inferiors and superiors and submission and obedience, we always must make the necessary qualification. If a superior tells an inferior to sin, that is a time when the inferior may lawfully not obey.

Remember in Acts chapter 5 at verse 29, the disciples were prohibited by the Sanhedrin from preaching the gospel. And they said, we must obey God rather than men. So if a parent instructs a child to sin, the child may lawfully not obey that particular command. But in anything not commanded as sin, the child is bound to obey their fathers and mothers.

There's no wiggle room here. Not if you feel like it. There's no qualification that they'll be pie if you actually do what you're... That's not the case.

You need to obey. You need to submit. You need to be subordinate to the authority that God has placed over you. You must revere mother and father as God commands.

Now, with reference to the New Testament sort of passages, it means to honor or reverence them. It means to have a right attitude toward them and to express gratitude for them. I mentioned this morning, if one time a year is the only time of the year that you thank your mother for all that she does, you need to repent and you need to reorient your life and you need to readjust the way that you function and maneuver. As well, you need to provide for their material needs in their old age.

Look at Matthew 15 for just a moment. Matthew 15, two passages here that I want to look at in terms of this responsibility for children, adult children, to provide for their parents in their older age. And I'm not just saying this as one who's getting closer to old age and I want my kids to all hear this sermon. put away some do-re-mi for me. But if they want to, that's good.

I often thought my sons would be my retirement program. Just send them out to get good jobs and make lots of money and have a basement suite for at least their dear mother. I'll go live under a bridge somewhere. Notice what we find in Matthew 15.

There's a despair this debate between Jesus and the religious leaders Look at verse 1 chapter 15 then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread? He answered and said to them Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? Now notice that Jesus invokes here the fifth commandment. Jesus assumes the abiding validity of the ten commandments.

You see that throughout his ministry. You see that in his being, in his DNA, in his humanity. You see that commitment to the law of God. He is challenging them.

He is challenging the religious authorities. And he says, why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded saying, honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. Intriguingly, that he also cites the sanction involved.

He not only cites the prohibition or the requirement of the command that you honor your father and your mother, but he also cites the penal sanction attached to the violation of the command when he says, he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. Verse 5, but you say, whoever says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God. Then he need not honor his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.

Now, without getting too far afield, essentially what Christ is doing is He is indicting them for a custom that had arisen among these religious leaders to bypass care for their parents, money that should have gone to their parents, they designated as Corban, which meant dedicated to the Lord. So it has the guise of piety. It looked really holy. We're going to dedicate this to the Lord, not to you, mom and dad.

Now, there are passages that certainly highlight God comes before parents. That's not what's happening here. This is not tithing. This is not the duty or the obligation to give to God of your first fruits, but rather it is in addition to that.

And so in order to look pious, to look holy, but to ultimately serve themselves, they would dedicate this Corbin to God's house and not give it to their own parents. Now, I don't need to remind you that these religious leaders made their living off of what was dedicated in terms of Corban. It was an indirect way of putting money back into their own pockets, but it looked so pious, and it looked so holy, and it looked so godly. He says you've invalidated the very commandment of God by this Corban practice that is actually a means by which you slight your parents.

You don't honor them, you don't give to them, you don't care for them, but rather you indirectly make the money find its way back into your own pocket. So Jesus assumes the validity of the fifth commandment and utilizes it to highlight that these persons were in violation of it. And then turn over to 1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy chapter 5, we looked at that a little bit this morning. But in 1 Timothy chapter 5, it is intriguing.

Paul there dealing, like he does in Titus 2, with the various people groups in the context of a local church. In 1 Timothy 5.3, notice what he says, honor widows who are really widows. The honor there doesn't mean to esteem them or to speak well of them or to give them a special parking spot. It means to give them money.

It means to cough up. It means to take dough from the church and give it to them so that they can buy food, so that they can maintain their sustenance, so that they can live and thrive and move and have their being. When Paul deals with elders in 1 Timothy 5.17, when he says, honor elders who rule well, or double honor to elders who rule well. It doesn't mean parking spots.

It doesn't mean, you know, gold-plated sort of signs on their doors. It means money. It means pay them. And in 1 Timothy 5, 3, he says, honor widows who aren't really widows.

But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents, for this is good and acceptable before God. You see, the church is not the first obligation in terms of the church's obligation isn't first with reference to caring for widows. It's family. It's children and grandchildren.

What's the assumption? That adult children, that adult grandchildren are going to esteem, revere, respect, honor, and love their parents enough to have a basement suite, to make sure that their parents continue to eat, to make sure that their their widowed mother or grandmother doesn't have to eat cat food in order to eke out a life. You see, the church has a responsibility after the family. And so this commandment doesn't cease when you leave your house.

Rather, you're always supposed to give this to your parents.

The Scope of the Command

Now, in terms of the scope of the command, I use the language of superiors and inferiors, and I realize that may be offensive in this modern politically correct climate. The idea of a superior or an inferior, wow, aren't we all equal? Well, yeah, we are all equal metaphysically. We are all equal in terms of being.

We are all equal as we come from the hand of the Creator as creature. But in terms of position, in terms of office, in terms of... place of prestige, there is difference among persons in a civil society. And with reference to this, I think the Westminster Larger Catechism defines it well. It says, who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?

Answer, by father and mother in the fifth commandment are meant not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts, and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth." So you see, the commandment is not only for kids toward their parents. All of us are under the obligation to keep the fifth commandment. All of us find ourselves in a position where we are inferiors to a superior, and we must honor and revere them, and we must respect and obey them. That's just life in God's world.

He doesn't make us islands unto ourselves. He doesn't make us autonomous. He doesn't make us independent, but he puts us in and I'm gonna use the language of the modern church in a way that's overworked, he puts us in community. And in community, there are certain moral obligations as we function one toward another.

There are superiors and there are inferiors, and we need to embrace that. Now, as you look at the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter five, or you look at Sinai in Exodus chapter 20, the primary audience there was adults. Now certainly kids were present and certainly kids would hear from this, but in terms of this fifth commandment, it never terminated upon children's obedience to their parents. It included that, but it also included, as we've seen the family, it includes the workplace.

The Fifth Commandment in the Workplace

Turn back to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6, you have this superior and inferior relationship in the workplace. Again, I hope none of you think superior means this guy's great and the inferior is not. It just means those who have a higher position, those who have superiority in age and gifts and possibly position, place, office, things of that nature.

But notice in the workplace in Ephesians 6 at verse 5, Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart as to Christ. Not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you masters, do the same thing to them, giving up threatening. knowing that your own master also is in heaven and there is no partiality with him. You see what Paul is doing?

He's doing something that is somewhat common in the Roman Empire. It wasn't just the Christians that had these sort of family codes or these lists of ethical directives. But Paul takes the commandment of God and he weaves that in and he says that this is how the structure in the Christian society ought to be in terms of the fifth commandment. We've got children to their parents.

We've got parents to their children. We've got bondservants to their masters. We've got masters to their bondservants. You see, this relationship of superior and inferior, all of us find ourselves subject to someone else. as well in the context of the local church.

The church officers, the elders specifically, are the overseers of the church. Hebrews chapter 13, you can turn there. Hebrews chapter 13. Again, the point isn't, I want a new parking spot.

The point is, is that in God's world, in the various structures, the various spheres in which we find ourselves, there are rules, there are operating procedures. And it occurs to me that when parents drop the ball in the home, everybody else suffers. You have to rear your children to understand that they'll always be subject to someone else. They can either be compliant, disciplined, self-controlled, and well-behaved, Or they can be just the opposite and a nightmare to anyone who has to deal with that.

Parents, we must take seriously the imperative involved in the Fifth Commandment and enforce the reality that our children are to honor, and they are to revere, and they are to respect. Because they're going to grow up and be members of the body politic, which we're going to see in just a moment. They're going to be members in local churches. They're going to be employees.

If you have not taught them how to work, if you have not taught them to respect, if you have not taught them how to get out of bed, if you have not taught them how to show up, if you have not taught them that, they're going to be miserable employees to employers. And as I've often said in this pulpit, if our kids are reared to just show up on time and not steal from their employers and do a decent day's work, they're going to be running the country before long. Because the bar has been so drastically lowered that people are awarded for just showing up consistently at work. That should just be the way it is.

You shouldn't get presents or prizes or rewards for just showing up. But that's the environment that we find ourselves in. So parents, if you take seriously the mandate with reference to the Fifth Commandment, and you bring up your children the way that God says, they're going to be CEOs. They will be your retirement program.

Speaking practically, to be sure. Now notice, with reference to the eldership in the context of the local church,

The Fifth Commandment in the Church

Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7. And then again in verse 17. Obey those who rule over you and be submissive. We know this is in the context of the church.

For they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. It's not dealing in the civil realm. Civil magistrate doesn't care about your soul. His job doesn't have anything to do with your soul.

Unfortunately, this is being blurred as well. We've got a government today that does want to look after the soul. The government wants to be involved in every jot and diddle of your life. We ought to resist that on a theological basis.

It's the church that is the ministry of the agency that is tasked with the souls of men. The civil state has as their particular purpose the punishment of evildoers in a civil society, not the maturation and the growth of people in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the job of the church. So in Hebrews 13, 17, "...obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account.

Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." In other words, try to make their job a little bit more pleasant, and you'll benefit as a result from that. And then in terms of the Commonwealth, or in terms of the civil society,

The Fifth Commandment in Civil Society

Romans 13 is the classic text. Let every soul be subject, verse 1, to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good.

But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.

Render therefore to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." Certainly the duties of inferiors is set forth very loudly and clearly here. Be subject to the governing authority. But I'd argue from the larger context of biblical revelation that superiors in terms of the civil state have a certain responsibility as well. And though they are derelict in that, we nevertheless need to keep up our end of the bargain.

So that is the scope of the command. And then

The Sanctions of the Command

look with me at the sanction related to the command. In the first place, the rod and reproof. How do parents enforce the Fifth Commandment? The rod and reproof.

We see that in the book of Proverbs. And by rod, I mean corporal punishment. Now, please don't post this on Facebook or on Twitter, because I'll get hauled off and be sent away by the powers that be, because this is offensive today. I would suggest that it's the lack of that that explains why we need metal detectors at schools to make sure kids don't shoot each other.

It's a travesty what we see today among young people. It's a travesty that drug abuse, that pregnancy, that sexual promiscuity, that all these things are rampant and rife. Trace it all back to the lack of the enforcement of parental authority. Now, again, mitigating circumstances, there could be other factors to be sure.

But brethren, when we laid down the rod, we allowed the children to run roughshod. Now, the Bible speaks a different tune. The Bible tells us that we are to discipline our children. We're not to beat them.

We're not to abuse them. We're not to take joy in it. We're not to hurt them or give them lasting pain and punishment and all those sorts of things. But I cited a text this morning in Proverbs 13, verse 24.

It says, he who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. Proverbs 19, verse 18. Proverbs 19, verse 18. Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction.

Proverbs 22, verse 15. Proverbs 22, verse 15. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Proverbs 23, 13, and 14, do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell. Again, that doesn't mean about the head or in the chest or all over his body. God made a particularly appropriate place for such things to take place in terms of the physiology involved in image bearers.

Brethren, we have to take seriously the reality that the Fifth Commandment is not up for debate. It's not optional. It's not something that, well, you know, if you'd like to, you can obey. No, we need to enforce this.

Again, not as tyrants, not as dictators, not as, you know, Mao or Stalin or Hitler or any of them. in our homes, but brethren, we must ensure compliance with the commandment.

The Theocratic Death Penalty

Now, a second sanction relative to the violation of the fifth commandment is seen in Deuteronomy 21. You can turn there. We've already seen it in Exodus 21. We see it in Leviticus 20.

But here in Deuteronomy 21, we see a particular example of it. Deuteronomy 21 at verse 18, notice, if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard.

Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones, so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear." Now, before you all say, oh, Butler's gone off the reservation, he thinks that disobedient kids should be executed, just listen to what the text is teaching. And just see how it underscores the gravity involved in the fifth commandment, something that we oftentimes treat as optional when we wink at or when we neglect to or when we are too lazy to actually call our children out when they're disobedient to us. God doesn't play that game. God knows that if you don't get their hearts at a young age, you're not gonna get their hearts.

Now again, grace, mercy, kindness, blessing, spirit, those other mitigating circumstances can certainly involve themselves and you can win the hearts of your children. But brethren, we need to capture their hearts when they're little. Now in the first place, this does not apply to a naughty two-year-old that won't eat his peas. It is a rebel adult son.

He is a drunkard and a glutton. No two-year-old is a drunkard and a glutton. As well, this presupposes the exercise of parental discipline. Can't blame these parents.

You can't say, oh, they were terrible. We do that a lot. Oh, look at how that kid turned out. Their parents must be terrible.

Well, notice what it says. If a man is a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them. This demonstrates as well the state's role with reference to capital punishment. The parents bring the child to the elders of the city, the civil government relative to that city.

This shows the seriousness of the Fifth Commandment and the honor that is due to parents. And I would suggest that the case highlights something a bit more grave. I think the fact that the boy or the young man is a glutton and a drunkard, these are symptoms of a bigger problem. He is a rebel.

He is insubordinate. He didn't listen to Paul. He didn't listen to Moses. He didn't honor his parents.

He didn't revere his parents. He didn't obey his parents. But rather, he has disobeyed them, he has not revered them, and he has not honored them. Symptoms of this is his pattern of drunkenness and his pattern of gluttony.

In fact, Craigie says that. The latter words, glutton and a drunken, do not specify the crime, but indicate, by way of example, the kind of life that has resulted from disobedience to parental authority. The crime, in other words, is disobedience, but the result of the crime is the dissolution of a proper style of life. Again, drunkenness and gluttony are symptomatic of the bigger issue.

He is insubordinate to his parents. He doesn't honor them. He doesn't revere them. He does not obey them.

Now, a man by the name of Verne Poythress, who is not what is called a theonomist, for those of you who know what that means, you'll understand the reference. For those of you who don't know what that means, it's okay. But Verne Poitras is not a theonomist. He wrote a book called The Shadow of Christ and the Law of Moses.

It's an explanation to some degree of Old Testament law and how it relates to Christ and the gospel. It's a very helpful book. It's a very good book. But he says with reference to the execution of the incorrigible son here.

He says the death penalty for wholesale violation of parental authority may seem harsh to modern sentiments. But I would argue that it is not only just, but realistic. Parental authority, even if very imperfectly exercised, takes place in the context of personal relationships and natural pressures in the direction of love. Parents have many advantages over the state.

If a person does not receive instruction from parents, the chance of receiving instruction from the state's more impersonal discipline are nil. The person who rebels in a wholesale fashion against parents will also rebel against the state and create general destruction and disorder until eliminated. It is mere sentimentality to refuse to come to grips with this reality." Again, please don't go home and blog or Facebook, Butler advocated the death penalty for the incorrigible son. I'm simply reminding you what scripture says and looking to underscore the seriousness and the gravity of the Fifth Commandment.

And that is seen as well, as I said, in the reason for the exile in Exodus 22. I'm sorry, Ezekiel 22. You can turn there. Ezekiel 22.

I alluded to this earlier. I want us to see it together. This isn't the only sin that produced or brought on the exile, but it was certainly a sin. In Ezekiel 22 at verse 7, in you, They have made light of father and mother.

In your midst, they have oppressed the stranger. You see that? They have made light of. They didn't treat as heavy.

They didn't honor. They made light of father and mother, the same sort of language associated with the fifth commandment. If in you, they have made light of father and mother, in your midst, they have oppressed the stranger. In you, they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Verse 15, I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. You shall defile yourself from the sight of the nations, then you shall know that I am the Lord. And then as I mentioned, those appearances and the vice lists in the New Testament. Turn to Romans chapter one.

Romans chapter one. Again, just to see the gravity of the offense as we bring this to a conclusion. Romans chapter 1 at verse 18, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.

Undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. 1 Timothy 1. Again, just see its connection relative to the other violations of God's holy law. 1 Timothy 1 at verse 8, but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust." I think Paul there is reflecting the Ten Commandments, and he is showing the most severe form of the breaking of the particular commandment. And he speaks of murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers.

And then 2 Timothy 3. Verse 1, but know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away." I've often thought that this is sort of a parallel to Romans 1. Romans 1 deals with those in the world.

These persons have a profession of faith. They say they are godly. They have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. You see, the repetitive nature of the insistence by God on adherence to the fifth commandment should overwhelmingly convince us.

Now, it should only be once, but it should overwhelmingly convince us of the seriousness of it and our responsibility as parents and grandparents to enforce the fifth commandment.

The Promise Attached to the Command

Now quickly in terms of the promise given, the Old Testament statement that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. That covenantal connection in Deuteronomy 440, tenure in the land would be blessed, it'd be great, it'd be wonderful, provided that persons obeyed the stipulations involved in the covenant. But in Ephesians chapter 6, Gentile children are told that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. Well, brethren, I hope that we will indeed appreciate the seriousness and the gravity of the command, that we will embrace the command, and we, by God's grace, will enforce that command in our homes to hopefully, under God's blessing, produce children that are a blessing.

Children are a blessing from God. They are a gift given by God. But brethren, they don't become a blessing unattended. You have to shape, you have to mold, you have to teach, you have to admonish, you have to instruct, you have to discipline, you have to reprove.

Now, as was this morning, so is the evening, we have looked a lot at the law. And

Application: Law, Gospel, and the Redeemer

I would submit by way of conclusion that as inferiors, we have all broken that law, and as superiors, we have all broken that law. And the answer to a broken law is a merciful Savior. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the way of salvation. Kids, it's not simply honoring your fathers and your mothers that is going to get you into heaven.

It is belief on the gospel of our Lord Jesus, the reality that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. So honor, respect, revere, obey, to be sure, but hopefully that flows out of hearts that have been redeemed and conquered by the blood of the Lamb. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your commandments, and we thank you that Even though we broke those commandments, you have sent a Savior, you sent a champion, you sent a Redeemer in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, that One who in the fullness of the times was sent by the Father, He was born of a woman, He was born under the law in order to redeem those who are under the law. Thank you for so great a salvation. Thank you for your great mercy.

Thank you for the gospel. And thank you, Lord God, that as we have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have this desire to do what he calls us to do. And I pray for all the parents in this local church, that they would be faithful relative to the fifth commandment, as superiors over their children, that Father, you would bless our little ones, that you would bless our young people, that you would get ahold of their hearts and their youth. and that you would cause them to know the joy of being in Jesus Christ. We ask now that you would go with us, watch over us in this week, help us to bring glory and honor and praise unto you.

And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Exodus 20; 21:15; 21:17
• Leviticus 19:3; 20:9
• Deuteronomy 4:40; 5:1; 5:16; 21:18-21
• Proverbs 13:24; 15:20; 17:25; 19:13; 19:18; 19:26; 22:15; 23:13-14; 30:17
• Ezekiel 22:7; 22:15
• Matthew 15:1-6
• Acts 5:29
• Romans 1:28-32; 13:1-7
• Ephesians 6:1-9
• Colossians 3:20-21
• 1 Timothy 1:8-11; 5:3-4; 5:17
• 2 Timothy 3:1-5
• Hebrews 13:7; 13:17